Improvement in car-starters



W. H. NEWTON. OAR STARTER.

110.110.780. x Patented Jan. 3, 1871.

' M wlTnEssEs.

Y ttnut me WILLIAM HARRISON NEWTON, 0F NEWPORT, RHODEy ISLAND.

Letters Patent No'. 110,780, dated January 3, 1871.

lMPRovz-:MEN-r 1N eAR-s'rAR-rsns.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HARRISON Nnw- TON, of thc city and county of' Newport und State or" Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Starters, of which thc following is a specification.

My invention consists in the employment of a drum, or the equivalent of the same, mounted loosely' and eccentrically upon the axle of a car or carriage or other wheeled vehicle, and combined with a roller or equivalent friction device interposed between said axle and the periphery of the eccentric drum in' such manner that, when the drum is revolved in the direction in whichthe axle and its wheels are to move, the roller will be pinched between it and the axle, the latter being thus compelled to follow the rotary movement otl the eccentric. This forward rotary movement of the drum is produced through the medium ofva chain 0rother draft device, and the recoil or contrary rotary movement of thc eccentric, which should take place when the car stops and the draft on the chain ceases, is effected by means of a spring or other suitable device for the purpose.

The manner in which my invention is or may be carried into effect will be readily understood by refer-,-

ence to the accompanyingr drawing, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal -vertical section through a car-truck to which my improvement is applied. Figure 2' is a transverse vertical Section through the eccentric.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the eccentricand that portion of the, axle upon which it is mounted, one

side of the eccentric heilig removed in order to. cxhibit 'its internal construction and arrangement.

A4 represents the body of a -truck or carriage of any ordinaryor suitable construction.

J3 Bare the axles, and` C' @the wheels.` My improvement in this instance is applied to the .front axle, although it may be applied, if desired, `to

either or all of the axles.

Upon the -forward axle is loosely and ecccutrically mounted a drum, D, and within the drum, between it and the axle, is placeda loose friction-roller, a, or ball, 0r any equivalent device for the purpose.

The normal position of the eccentric drum-that is to say, the position which it occupies when the car is at rest-is shown in fig. 3, the width of the recess or space between the periphery of the drum and the axle, at the point where the roller a is brought by its own gravity, being such that the roller is free from contact with the axle. It', however, the drum be revolved in the direction of the arrow, the width ofthe eccentric recess or groove, as it may be termed, becomes gradually less, so that, valthough the drum will at the outset revolve upon .the axle, the roller will ycontrary to the draft of the chain E.

soon become pinched between the gradually-approach-r ing surfaces of the drum and axle, andconsequently it will becomeso tightly wedged between the drum and axle asl to compel the latter to follow th movement of the former, and to revolve in the same direction,l

with it. The action of the devices will be more fully understood by reference to Iig. 1, in which the parts are represented in `the position they assume when the roller has been pinched between the eccentric and the axle and a partial revolution of said drum and. axle has been made. A

By continuing to pull upon the draft-chain E, which is made fast at one end to the periphery of the drum, the revolution of the drum and axle, and consequently of the wheels C, will be continued until the ring or stop b on the chain brings up against the eyebolt c,

through which the chain passes.' This arrestsfur ther draft upon the drum, which ceases to revolve, while the car still moves forward, the axle revolving' within the now stationary drum. The axle can thus revolve easily, as thedirection of its `rotation tends to throw the roller upward, avoiding all cramping or confining act-ion of the latter. v.

It is desirable to combine with the starting devices a mechanism for returning vthe drum to the position shown in lig. 3, when the car stops, so that, when the car again is required to move forward, the drum and roller may be in condition to takea fresh hold upon the axle for the purpose Aof starting its movement.

To this end I employ a spring, G, which is connccted with the drum so as to pull it in a direction When the chain E is'pulled so as to cause what may be called the forward rotation of the drum, the springr will yield, but when the draft upon the chain is slackened the recoil of the spring will cause the return of the drum t0 its first position. The spring may be arranged in any desired manner, and iu its place other devices of an ordina-ry or suitable nature for the purpose may be employed.

rIhe exterior shapev of the part D, which I have called the drum, may be varied to a great extent, as it is only necessary that it should have in its interior, or between it and the axle, thc eccentric or graduallynarrowing space, of such capacity that, by the rotation of the drum, 'as above explained, the roller will be cramped and confined between the axle and the drum, so as to compel the former to follow the movement of the latter.

In order to enable the roller to take abett'er hold upon the axle, and to increase the leverage, I form a hub or pulley-like projection, cl, uponthat partof the axle with which the roller is to be brought in c tact. It'is not necessary that the eccentric groove should extend all the way around the axle, but in case it does, as represented in thedrawing, ,l provide a flange, le, arranged `in the widest partof the groove, for the purpose of preventiu g the rollel from accidentally geb ting on the wrong side of the axle.

In lieu of placing the starting device upon the axle, it may be placed upon the hub of the wheel of the vehicle, but this would be substantially the same use and productive of the saule results.

Having now described my invention and the inauner in which the saine is or may be carried into e'eet,

XVhat I claim', and desire to secure by Let-ters Patent, is

1. rlhe combination, with the axle of a, car or other wheeled vehicle, of :u1 eceeutricdrnm mounted loosely thereon, and a. roller or equivalent device located within the drum, or between it and the axle, substantially as and for the purposes shown and described.

groove or recess within the drum and around the axle. l as and for the purposes Set forth.

1n testimony whcreofd have signed my naine to this speciiicatiou before two subscribing witnesses.

W. HARRISON NE\\'/"l`ON` \Vitnesses:

J OIIN A. Usnenn, SIMON Nwrox. 

